While Black Lives Matter protests raged across the United States and continue to dominate the political agenda, US President Donald Trump has further eroded environmental protections.
He has signed an executive order to remove environmental checks on major infrastructure projects in an attempt to fast-track the nation’s economic recovery.
gave agencies the green light to waive long-standing environmental laws, coming under the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to fast-track approvals for projects including highways and new mines.
US based environmental group, Centre for Biological Diversity, filed a notice on Monday with intent to sue Mr Trump for his attempt to “exploit the Endangered Species Act’s emergency provisions”.
“Trump’s June 4 order directed all federal agencies to waive compliance with environmental laws to expedite infrastructure and other projects,” executive director Kierán Suckling said in a.
“The order requires every agency to claim emergency authority to approve as many infrastructure projects as possible within 30 days, regardless of potential harm to people or the environment.
“He’s encouraging officials to ignore the rules and obey his whims… this dangerous executive order is an open-ended invitation for abuse, and if he doesn’t revoke it, we’ll take him to court.”
Agencies are now encouraged to bypass rigorous environmental reviews to start getting Americans back into the workforce.
“Agencies should take all reasonable measures to speed infrastructure investments and to speed other actions in addition to such investments that will strengthen the economy and return Americans to work,” Mr Trump said in the executive order.
Mr Trump has declared the US is in a state of economic emergency, with the executive order suggesting the new policies will help overcome the country’s economic trouble as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the days between the national emergency declaration and May 23, 2020, more than 41 million Americans filed for unemployment, and the unemployment rate reached 14.7 percent,” the executive order said.
“In light of this and other developments, I have determined that, without intervention, the United States faces the likelihood of a potentially protracted economic recovery with persistent high unemployment.”
The US has seen ongoing protests in response to racism and police violence following the death of black man George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The US has seen ongoing protests in response to racism and police violence following the death of black man George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Source: Getty
Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said this is not a time to “further erode public health and environment protections”.
“The millions of Americans facing public health challenges, staggering unemployment, and racial injustices need the White House to focus on health, jobs, and eliminating systemic racism,” .
Sixth mass extinction a threat to civilisation
The environmental waiver for infrastructure projects comes as , also referred to as the Holocene or Anthropocene extinction, the most serious environmental threat the world is facing.
“Its magnitude and likely impacts on human wellbeing are largely unknown by governments, the private sector, and civil society,” the report by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) said.
“It is, therefore, a scientific and moral imperative for scientists to take whatever actions they can to stop extinction.”
Scientists involved in the report have linked the sixth extinction to climate change, pollution, and wildlife trade, claiming it is a threat to civilisation.
“The ongoing sixth mass extinction may be the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilisation, because it is irreversible,” the report said.
“Thousands of populations of critically endangered vertebrate animal species have been lost in a century, indicating that the sixth mass extinction is human-caused and accelerating.”
Unlike previous extinctions that have been caused by asteroid collisions and cataclysmic eruptions, the report said the sixth extinction is man-made and that humans are continuing to advance it through ever-growing populations and infrastructure projects.
Through activities like logging and pouching, the study found more than 500 mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians are on the verge of extinction and will likely die out within the next 20 years.
The PNAS report also said the 500 species are disappearing at 100 times the average rate.
Australian critters under threat
Some of the Australian animals at threat of extinction include the hairy-nosed wombat and the regent honeyeater.
Basha Stasak from the Australian Conservation Foundation told SBS News she "wasn't that surprised" when reading the PNAS report.
"Here in Australia we are the world leader in mammal extinction, so unfortunately, this report was really echoing something that we have heard over and over again, that we do face a biodiversity crisis," she said.
"There's a number of things contributing to that and one is habitat destruction... as well as invasive species, feral species, which are contributing and of course climate change."
The hairy-nosed wombat is one Australian animal at risk of extinction. Source: AAP
Ms Stasak said the government must review our environmental laws to help better protect the endangered species.
"We really need to put money into conservation and put money into helping species recover because they can," she said.
An independent review into the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act is underway and is expected to assess the act and make recommendations to better enhance Australia's environmental protection.
"Fixing our laws is very long overdue and what we are hoping to see is our government taking up this opportunity and puts the reforms in place to strengthen our environmental laws," Ms Stasak said.
Scientists involved in the PNAS report are also urging the International Union for Conservation of Nature to list an additional 5,000 species as “critically endangered”.
